Syrian Civil War Developments

[Double Edge]

Anxiety is increasing about the prospect of a desperate Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his rapidly proliferating enemies.

Bollocks!

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Assad that such chemical weapons use would cross a U.S. red line: "I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action."

Got to love the way she phrased that. How many Syrians dead since the beginning of this conflict, 60k+, more ? Does anybody really care how many more die or how.

Assuming of course they remain in Assads hands. What happens if his regime fails and they fall into the hands of the various rebel factions?

Exactly, imagine that.

Lets take a step back for a minute. Serious question, does any really believe Syria would use chemical weapons or is the hype machine in effect?

No, Syria would not use them. Its the hype machine in effect. To pave the way for an attack of some sort.

Have the Russians sold the Syrians out or is this a way to get them to make their minds up soonish.

It appears Assad's time is up. He's getting weak, time to take him out. He's going to die, if he tries to leave his own people will kill him. When that happens the peacekeepers (protect those chems) will have to get in there to stop the civil war from happening.

[zraver]

The thing is, I'm not sure those weapons are Russia's to trade.

Only the US and Russia really have the facilities for destroying them and only the US is stupid enough to borrow money from the Chinese to pay to have them shipped to the US and incinerated...

[Parihaka]

Don't know the integrity of this site other than Wikipedia citing it

Hours after NATO agreed on Tuesday to send Patriot missiles to Turkey because of the crisis in Syria, Russia delivered its first shipment of Iskander missiles to Syria.

The superior Iskander can travel at hypersonic speed of over 1.3 miles per second (Mach 6-7) and has a range of over 280 miles with pinpoint accuracy of destroying targets with its 1,500-pound warhead, a nightmare for any missile defense system.


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According to Mashregh, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard media outlet, Russia had warned Turkey not to escalate the situation, but with Turkey’s request for Patriot missiles, it delivered its first shipment of Iskanders to Syria.

Reporting today, Mashregh said the handover occurred when Russian naval logistic vessels docked at Tartus in Syria.

The Iskandar is a surface-to-surface missile that no missile defense system can trace or destroy, Mashregh said. Russia had earlier threatened that should America put its missile defense system in Poland, it would retaliate by placing its Iskander missiles at Kaliningrad, its Baltic Sea port.

Russia’s delivery of Iskanders to Bashar Assad’s embattled regime clearly shows that the security and stability of Syria remains Russia’s red line, Mashregh said. It is unknown how many of these missiles have been delivered but the numbers given are sufficient to destroy any Patriot missiles in Turkey, it said.

The delivery of the missile not only threatens the security of Turkey but also Israel, which would have to recalculate its strategy with its defensive and offensive capabilities.

As reported in a WND exclusive on Dec. 5, Iran’s Islamic regime also sees the toppling of the Assad regime as its red line and has 170 ballistic missiles targeting Tel Aviv in underground missile silos, some with biological warheads.

In August, a commentary in Mashregh, representing the regime’s views, warned America and Israel that further instability in Syria would spark a pre-emptive attack on Israel in which the use of weapons of mass destruction – biological, chemical and even nuclear bombs – won’t be off the table. It stated that certain groups (proxies, such as Hezbollah) have been armed with WMDs and that Israel will be their target.

The Mashregh commentary charged that Israel is one of the conspirators behind the Syrian crisis in order to strategically change the geopolitics of the region and defeat one of the main players in the Islamic world’s “resistance front” (Iran, Syria and Hezbollah). It warned Israel that with the direction it has chosen, “There is a dead end, and the threat of mass killing awaits.”

The Islamic regime in Iran for its part continues to ship arms to Syria via Iraq both by air and ground while its Quds Forces help the Assad regime in killing its own people. To date, over 40,000 people, including many women and children, have died since the Syrian uprising began in March of 2011.

Reports indicate that Assad has decided to use chemical weapons on his own people as a last attempt to save his rule. Speaking in Prague on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Syria that the use of chemical weapons would be a red line, indicating that America would retaliate.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered the Guards and its Quds Forces to use all of their capabilities to protect Assad and has threatened war against those helping the rebels in Syria, primarily Saudi Arabia and Turkey, according to a source who had served in the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit but who has since defected.

The source added that the recent Gaza conflict was a warning to America and Israel that the Islamic regime in Iran can destabilize the region further should the push in Syria continue to topple Assad. The region will witness terrorist attacks, assassinations and incitement for uprisings in countries allied with America as the situation in Syria further deteriorates, the regime has promised, according to the source.

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and author of the award winning book “A Time to Betray” (Simon & Schuster, 2010). He serves on the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and the advisory board of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran (FDI).

Read more at Russia arms Syria with powerful ballistic missiles

Whatever the case, if this is true, the patriots in Turkey and the arrival of the Eisenhower off the coast, the whole area is getting very busy and very, very dangerous

[Parihaka]

https://leaksource.wordpress.com/201...-syrian-coast/

[citanon]

Don't know the integrity of this site other than Wikipedia citing it




Read more at Russia arms Syria with powerful ballistic missiles

Whatever the case, if this is true, the patriots in Turkey and the arrival of the Eisenhower off the coast, the whole area is getting very busy and very, very dangerous

Don't buy it. Russia isnt that crazy and even if it was there's zero reason to give Syria its most up to date wares knowing that if Assad falls those shiny missiles end up on the training range in Nellis, after a very thorough inspection by the likes of Raytheon, Lockheed, and Boeing.

[Minskaya]

Syria is known to possess Mustard Gas and Sarin (~1000 tons) and is developing the nerve agent VX. The delivery modes are artillery/aircraft/missile. In the past, Syrian CW was stored in 50 different locations. Recently however these stockpiles were moved to five major airbases. So far, they remain in binary form and are being closely monitored by various means. The rub is that intent remains murky (i.e. offensive intent or a safeguarding transfer).

[zraver]

https://leaksource.wordpress.com/201...-syrian-coast/

If its going to be a NATO ops look for the CDG to make an appearance.

[citanon]

Syria is known to possess Mustard Gas and Sarin (~1000 tons) and is developing the nerve agent VX. The delivery modes are artillery/aircraft/missile. In the past, Syrian CW was stored in 50 different locations. Recently however these stockpiles were moved to five major airbases. So far, they remain in binary form and are being closely monitored by various means. The rub is that intent remains murky (i.e. offensive intent or a safeguarding transfer).

I don't think Israel needs to be concerned about Syria opening a front against Israel with a chemical attack. However, she clearly has to be concerned about transfer of CW to Hezbollah willingly or unwillingly by the Syrian regime. According to the previous NY Times article, a number of Hezbollah training sites are located near CW storage sites. Those are probably being watched closely and anxiously and contingency plans in place.

[S2]

Citanon Reply

Worse, the proximity of these camps to CW sites means you roll on exceedingly short-notice with the best available intel and plans...and let the chips fall where they may. I'm sure the contingency planning to this point has been exacting and detailed as possible but nothing's guaranteed once the trigger's pulled on these types of ops.

[zraver]

Syrian jihadists apparently have their own supply of CW...

very disturbing video

Syria - Rebels using chemicals weapons - YouTube

[Parihaka]

I've got to say, it's looking more and more like the west's best interests are in fact supporting Assad. Wonder how the liberals would take that one

[Mihais]

I've got to say, it's looking more and more like the west's best interests are in fact supporting Assad. Wonder how the liberals would take that one

Can't say where,but it's very likely many will enjoy it.

But,but,freedom fighters,democracy,human rights,dictatorship,they're just like us,they only want to cast a piece of paper every 4 years in a box and eat a pie....

Let's see the good part in all this.The Turks will kick everybody's behind.After that,we'll have a proper fight,like 500 years ago.With some honourable foes,not the scum of the world.


To be fair,it's possible the above video is disinformation.But the risk of that crap being real is not worthy of taking it as such.

[Chogy]

Syrian jihadists apparently have their own supply of CW...

very disturbing video

Syria - Rebels using chemicals weapons - YouTube

I have to say, from a science/chemistry perspective, the ability to mix two liquids together to produce a fatal fog in an enclosed environment like that rabbit cage, is high-school chemistry. It is entirely another matter to be able to create localized concentrations high enough to be fatal to men in the open. The delivery mechanism is problematic, as is maintaining concentrations high enough, long enough, to incapacitate, or kill.

I was trying to read the labels on the chemical bottles, but the only one I recognized was potassium chlorate, an oxidizer and pyrotechnic chemical. Initially, I thought the lab might be making improvised explosives, but the rabbit deaths were quite real.

My guess for the toxic gas - phosgene. COCl2 - a simple molecule.

Although less dangerous than many other chemical weapons, such as sarin, phosgene is still regarded as a viable chemical warfare agent because it is so easy to manufacture when compared to the production requirements of more technically advanced chemical weapons such as the first-generation nerve agent tabun.[7]

[astralis]

I've got to say, it's looking more and more like the west's best interests are in fact supporting Assad. Wonder how the liberals would take that one

best case for the west-- which is to say the least bad option-- is for assad to GTFO, leaving some sort of caretaker government in place that will open negotiations with the rebels. at this point in time i'm not comfortable with an outright rebel victory, nor would i want to see assad stay in place.

this has a low-probability chance of happening, though.

second-best option is for the west to openly support the most pro-western/secular rebels, and lean hard on the gulf states to stop shunting money through the islamist groups.

[Mihais]

There is no obvious pro-western/secular group and the odds of such an hypothetical entity being honest are slim.As for asking the Saudis and Gulf states to do anything is quite late.It's not as the implications weren't clear as daylight from the moment it all started.